Love of God, Family,Friendship and music.
THE JIMMY LEHOUX BAND AT GILLETTE STADIUM, JULY 26TH 2008
1996 – Ste Marie Parish Manchester, NH. Chris, Greg and I all played in the Ste. Maries contemporary music group and developed a relationship beyond just getting together on Sunday to play. I approached both of them with the idea of doing a show with one twist, the music style we would be doing would be country. At the time New england was not really a hot bed for country music and we were stepping out on a limb. They both agreed to the challenge, The “Lehousiana Boys” were born and we performed our first show at The Hevey Theatre in Manchester, NH in November of 96. The show was a success and not only was it our first show it was our first sell out show with over 400 people in attendance.
1997 – Memorial High School Manchester, NH. Scot Gibbs enters the band and for our second show we were invited to play at a local high school as part of a fundraiser for the wrestling team. Being the second show it was sure to set us apart as we started to install props on the stage. As people walked into the theatre they were initially shocked to see an 18 by 10 foot guitar laying in front of the stage. As show time approached the 700 people in attendance took their seats. With the initial bang of the drums the guitar started to lift so it stood verticle in front of the crowd. As the crowd sat in awe it began to make its way down with one unexpected surprise, I was standing in the sound hole. It was truely an experience for everyone including me. That night we played about 2 and half hours to once again a sell out crowd.
1997 – Riverfest Manchester, NH. When we started this thing just 10 months earlier we could have never guessed we would be opening for a major act. Mr Charlie Daniels was coming to town and we had the honor of opening for him. It was truely one of the best things I have ever done up to that time. At this show I met Gary Crane (Capital Productions) neither one of us knew it at the time but years later we would form a partnership that would take us in a whole new direction.
1998 – With the help of Gary Crane we had an album release party at the Capital Center for the Arts in Concord, NH. Again this was quite the experience with over 1100 in attendance we sure did make a mark in the New England country music scene.
This is the origin of the band! Here we are in 2008 and many things have changed but yet still remain the same.
Along the way an album was made, some studio sessions in Nashville followed and local and national awards were won. Vinnie also joined the band adding steel and fiddle, but nothing could compare to the pure joy of watching each member of the band grow in faith, love and ultimately the size of our families. Marriages and kids soon followed and we found ourselves balancing family life and music life. One things that was clear we would stick together and make it work.
As in any family the band had some great times and some sad times. In 2006 Chris Allain at the young age of 37 past away from a rare cancer called Osteosarcoma (www.fatherswish.org). It truely put a whole new perspective on what was important in the life of our band. We stepped back and realized what we had was truely special and most likely could not be duplicated. In thinking about it, why would we try to duplicate something that could not be duplicated. Instead let’s create something new.
2006 – Jarrod Williams steps in for Chris and the band looked toward the future. With continued trips to Nashville, work began on an album and the shows kept coming. With opening for many acts and legends like Charlie Daniels, Marshal Tucker, Alabama, Pam Tillis, Little Feat, The Mavericks, Molly Hatchett, Fog Hat, Gary Allen, Leanne Rimes, Sammy Hagar, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney and Travis Tritt we felt that we were prepared for the next phase.
2008 – Al Gagnon joins the band and adds a whole new demension with Keyboards. Also, in July of 2008, The Thompson Entertainment group came on board stepping us up to the next level and one step closer to a possible label deal.
With the soon to be released album “13” produced by Tom Mcbee, what the future holds for me and the band I could not guess but, we are surely enjoying the ride. One thing is for sure we will continue the formula that has worked for us for so many years.
Love of God, Family,Friendship and music.